Video: Using iTunes DJ for party playlists

As we've previously seen, the iTunes Shuffle button is a good option to have if you just want to play continuous nonstop music from your entire music library or from a selected playlist, but it really doesn't give you any control over what songs are played. So in this movie I want to look at iTunes DJ, which makes it a little easier to come up with a random collection of tunes while at the same time making it easier to control which songs make the list. iTunes DJ should appear as the first item under Playlists here in the Source pane. If you don't see it, go to Preferences and under the General tab make sure iTunes DJ is checked.

iTunes 10 Essential Training takes an in-depth look into the popular music and media hub from Apple. Author Garrick Chow demonstrates how to perform the core functions in iTunes: playing, purchasing, sharing, and streaming content. The course also covers specialized features such as setting parental controls, syncing with iPods, subscribing to podcasts, listening to Internet radio, using the Genius feature, the Ping social network, and much more. Exercise files are included with the course.

Using iTunes DJ for party playlists

As we've previously seen, the iTunes Shuffle button is a good option to have ifyou just want to play continuous nonstop music from your entire music libraryor from a selected playlist, but it really doesn't give you any control overwhat songs are played.So in this movie I want to look at iTunes DJ, which makes it a little easier tocome up with a random collection of tunes while at the same time making iteasier to control which songs make the list.iTunes DJ should appear as the first item under Playlists here in the Source pane.If you don't see it, go to Preferences and under the General tab make sureiTunes DJ is checked.

When I first select iTunes DJ, I see the screen giving me a little informationabout iTunes DJ which as you can see it tells me that I can change the list ofupcoming songs at any time by adding, removing, or reordering them.Another very cool feature is that you can allow people with iPhones or iPod toucheswho have the free iTunes Remote application installed to placerequests for songs.This is a great feature for parties and it lets your guests participate inthe music selection.Let's click Continue.So now we are looking at the iTunes DJ playlist and here are 15 random songsthat it has selected.

So this is kind of like the Shuffle feature, but unlike the Shuffle featurewhere you can't tell which songs are coming up here in iTunes DJ you can clearlysee the next 15 songs that it will be playing, which allows you to makeadjustments if you like.If you don't like this particular collection at all, just click the Refreshbutton to instantly get a list of 15 more songs.Within this list you can easily reorder the songs just by grabbing them anddragging them up or down.Now I can start playing from the top of the list just by double-clicking.

(Music playing)But I can also click any of the other songs in the list to start them playing.Now songs that have played appear in gray at the top of the list, which isanother convenient feature for when someone comes running up to you at theparty and asked the name of the song that was just playing or the song thatplayed 20 minutes ago.By default iTunes DJ select from your entire music library, but if you want it toonly select from a certain playlist, just click the Source menu down here andfind your playlists.All the playlists you've created will appear in this menu.So you might want to take some time to create a playlist before you start iTunesDJ at your party or get together.

And don't forget about Smart Playlists.For example, on my home computer I have a Smart Playlist that among otherthings ignores all spoken word and audio book files I use that for my iTunes DJ tunes,because I probably don't want a chapter from Atlas Shrugs suddenlycoming up during a party.I am not get worry about that way right now, because I don't have any audiobooks installed in this computer.Now by default you always see the upcoming 15 songs, which should give youplenty of leeway to move or delete any songs you don't like.As each song gets played, another one is added to the bottom of the list.If you want to see more or fewer upcoming songs, click Settings, and here youcan choose to see anywhere from 0 to 100 upcoming songs.

This is also where you can determine how many recently played songs you want to see.So if you want a longer list of the songs that have already played, maybeyou want to choose 20.I will leave mine at 5 though.We also have the option here to play higher rated songs more often.So if you take advantage of the rating feature we discussed earlier youmight want to check this option, so more of your favorite songs show up more frequently.Now while we are in here let's also check Allow guests request songs withRemote for iPhone iPod touch.This is the option to allow guests with iPod touches and iPhones with the iTunesRemote application installed to request songs.

The Remote application is a free application from Apple you can download fromthe app store that allows iPods and iPhones on your network to control iTunes.So the most important thing is that you allow your guests to access your homewireless network, meaning the same network your computer is running iTunes on.Otherwise, they won't be able to connect to iTunes to browse your songs.Now we have the option of adding a Welcome Message for your guests to see.So I typed "Welcome to my party!Feel free to place your song requests."Next, you can check Restrict requests to source and from this menu you canchoose a playlist to let limit your guests to.

So they will only be able to select songs from your approved playlist, which youprobably want to do in case some prankster decides to pull a college lecture yourecorded or something like that.I am just going to unchecked for now.Another fun option is to Enable voting, which only works right if you haveseveral people with iPod touches or iPhones and you can let them duke it out byvote to determine what song plays next.Lastly, you can password protect iTunes and only provide the password to theiPod touch or the iPhone users who can handle the enormous responsibility ofchoosing the tunes for your party.So maybe I will add a password here of "rock on."So let's click OK and see how this works.

So on my iPhone I'm going to start up the Remote app and in here I am going to type Settings.Right here at the top of the screen I can see the iTunes DJ library I justset up is available.The lock icon next to it indicates that it is password protected.So I am going to select it and then type in my password that I set up.So now I see the same list of songs currently listed in my iTunes DJ listing.I can also tap Now Playing to see the currently playing track.

Now I am seeing the cover art for the currently playing song.Of course, it's not currently playing, but it's the one that will play once Iclick Play on iTunes.Incidentally, this is a great way for iPod touch an iPhone users to just see theartist, album, and song that's currently playing at your party.Now I am going to tap Request a Song.This allows me to browse through the entire library of songs or if I just set upa playlist, it would allow my guest to browse just that playlist.So I am going to look through here.I will find The Jellybricks. Pick a song.

So that places the song next in the list.Now if there are other people around with the iPhones, they would see that thesong now has one vote.You can see the little heart icon next to the song.Back here on my iTunes screen you can also see that Goodnight To Everyone has one vote.Now other guests could also select the same song in their phone to add morevotes to move it to the top of the list, or they can pick other songs.The songs with the most votes move to the top of the list just as they should ina proper democratic society.But just people with iPod touches and iPhones shouldn't have all the say inwhat's coming up, right?If someone comes up to you at the party and request a particular song and itdoesn't happen to be one of the upcoming songs, you can go into your Library,find the song they want, and then right-click on it.

Now here we have the choice of Play Next in iTunes DJ, (Music playing)which as you can see adds it to the very top of the list and it start playing.Now if there were already a song currently playing, it will add the songimmediately below it on the list.It won't just interrupt the currently playing song.Now the other option we have is Add to iTunes DJ.So I selected that with a song "Up To You."So if I go back to iTunes DJ, you can see the song "Up To You" now has one vote.Anybody looking at this list on their iPhone to iPod touch would see that theyalso has one vote, so they could give it another tap, which I will do in thiscase and you can see now it has two votes and has moved up the list.

So again this is a feature that allows everybody to participate in the musicthat's playing at party and that's the iTunes DJ feature of iTunes 10.So forget about mix CDs for parties. The next time we have a get together, tellyour friends to bring their iPhone and iPod touches and make your party music aninteractive experience.

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